Do traditional singles online dating sites work better than swiping apps?

Every time traditional singles online dating sites work better than swiping apps comes up the thread turns into an advert, so I am asking here instead. My problem with traditional online dating sites so far has been actually getting anywhere.

I have about a month of using the free end of the market behind me and not much to show for it. Nobody warns you that the hours-to-dates ratio on traditional online dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours.

If you have used traditional online dating sites, these are the bits I care about:

• Compare traditional online dating sites against the free end of the market on the same week, or the comparison is meaningless
• Run traditional online dating sites beside one other option so you have a baseline for the hours-to-dates ratio
• Do not move off traditional online dating sites into private messaging until the effort-to-result ratio looks handled

If you have tried traditional singles online dating sites work better than swiping apps recently, I would rather hear that than read another review site.

Same experience on traditional online dating sites: I gave it six weeks before the return on the hours got tiresome. I keep two accounts running to compare the time it costs across free dating apps, and traditional online dating sites sits mid-table. There is no version of traditional online dating sites where the payoff sorts itself out without you doing something.

Nobody warns you that actually getting anywhere on traditional online dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours. Most of the noise about traditional online dating sites comes from people measuring the payoff over far too short a window. Not saying traditional online dating sites suits everyone, but it is not the disaster this thread implies.

My traditional online dating sites baseline these days is Turndate, mostly because the hours-to-dates ratio is measurable there.

@Chris_A makes a fair point about traditional online dating sites, but that tracks with my traditional online dating sites run, which was fine until the return on the hours became the whole experience.

If the time it costs is your main worry with traditional online dating sites, test it in the first week rather than the first month.

How I would approach traditional online dating sites from scratch:

• Photos with other people in them do worse on traditional online dating sites than you would guess
• Test the effort-to-result ratio on traditional online dating sites deliberately in week one rather than hoping it improves
• Do not pay to fix the return on the hours on traditional online dating sites; the paid tiers rarely touch the real cause
• Log in at the hours you would actually go out; traditional online dating sites activity is nothing like flat
• Ask most people in this thread what traditional online dating sites is like where they actually live, not where you wish you lived

@Emma Hayes makes a fair point about traditional online dating sites, but same experience on traditional online dating sites: I gave it six weeks before the time it costs got tiresome. Nobody warns you that the return on the hours on traditional online dating sites scales with how many people are online at your hours.

If the effort-to-result ratio is your main worry with traditional online dating sites, test it in the first week rather than the first month. The thing people underrate about traditional online dating sites is how much actually getting anywhere depends on your own city. That is my read on traditional online dating sites, and others here clearly disagree.

Respectfully no — complaints about the time it costs on traditional online dating sites usually come from people who gave it a week. The pattern I see with traditional online dating sites is that the time it costs is fine early and degrades as you go.

You can work around the hours-to-dates ratio on traditional online dating sites, but you have to be deliberate about it. I keep two accounts running to compare the payoff across free platforms, and traditional online dating sites sits mid-table.

My traditional online dating sites baseline these days is Ezhookups, mostly because the effort-to-result ratio is measurable there.

FeliciaM put the traditional online dating sites case better than I would have, though seconding this, because on traditional online dating sites the honest answer is that the return on the hours varies enormously by area.

Honestly, the effort-to-result ratio was less of a problem on traditional online dating sites than the sheer time it ate.